Google’s October 29 Android event: “The playground is open”

Nexus and Android updates could be coming. We'll be liveblogging from the scene.

Not to be upstaged by Microsoft's Windows 8 launch on the 26th and Apple's probably-the-iPad-mini event on the 23rd, Google has just sent out invitations for an Android-related announcement on Monday, October 29 at 10:00am ET. The invitation reads, simply, "The playground is open."

Google's invite is cryptic, but based on the recent rumors that have been swirling around, it's probable that the company will be talking about new Nexus phones, perhaps including the rumored model from LG. The timing of the announcement backs up this theory—new Nexus phones are typically announced at the end of the year. It's also possible that we'll get some official details on Android 4.2, the as-yet-unnamed follow-up to Jelly Bean.

The name of the event may also refer to recent rumors that the Nexus program is opening up. Rather than partnering with OEMs and carriers to release one new Nexus phone or tablet at a time, rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Whatever happens, Ars will be on the scene liveblogging the event. Make sure to check back on October 29 for the details!

30 Reader Comments

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Yes please!

No kidding, hopefully if this carrot isn't enough, Google can find a stick big enough to beat these jack asses with. Software fracturing is probably the weakest link of Android devices, they /really/ need to get this issue resolved. Although I have to say, I have little faith at the moment. These manufacturers just don't seem to give a damn.

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Yes please!

So, the question is what is it about the Nexus brand makes it incentive enough for carriers and manufacturers to play along? Mindshare?And if it is, why aren't the carriers/manufacturers doing this already, since the main appeal for the Nexus line (imo) IS just that: stock Android and guaranteed updates.

Random opinionizing: Is anyone else bothered by the whole Play moniker? I understand that "x App Store" is kind of bland, but it got the point across, and actually I kind of liked Android Market, which had a connotation of a bustling marketplace and idea exchange. "Play" just seems childish and to a slightly lesser extent, called to mind the play button on various devices, which I find even more bland than calling it an app store. With playground, they seem to be reinforcing that idea.

Not that I think everything has to be OMG SERIOUS BUSINESS. But I'm curious if people like the name.

You know what would be really cool is if they announced a networked speaker that plays content from the Play Store, preferably with an expensive amp and high-end-only connectors.

(On a serious note, am I the only one who wishes that some form of the Q was actually released?)

Pretty sure Google has said that they're reworking it and plan to rerelease it. And anyone who has a standing preorder for a Nexus Q will get the final Nexus Q product for what they paid, regardless if the cost has gone up.

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Yes please!

No kidding, hopefully if this carrot isn't enough, Google can find a stick big enough to beat these jack asses with. Software fracturing is probably the weakest link of Android devices, they /really/ need to get this issue resolved. Although I have to say, I have little faith at the moment. These manufacturers just don't seem to give a damn.

They don't need to give a damn since they're just selling hardware and mostly to non-tech savvy people (who are just buying "a tablet", not the entire Android ecosystem). It's especially bad for updates because once they have your money, they don't have much reason to provide updates for a tablet which won't generate any more revenue for them (Google makes cash on the the Play Store, the hardware manufacturers don't).

But I don't think that there's any simple solution to the problem. Some tablet manufacturers (especially the bigger ones... hence the problem), will want to try to differentiate themselves from the rest (e.g.: Samsung with Touch-Whiz), which means they need to adapt any new Android version to their UI, which takes time and money they might be disinclined to invest.

Random opinionizing: Is anyone else bothered by the whole Play moniker? I understand that "x App Store" is kind of bland, but it got the point across, and actually I kind of liked Android Market, which had a connotation of a bustling marketplace and idea exchange. "Play" just seems childish and to a slightly lesser extent, called to mind the play button on various devices, which I find even more bland than calling it an app store. With playground, they seem to be reinforcing that idea.

Not that I think everything has to be OMG SERIOUS BUSINESS. But I'm curious if people like the name.

Personally, I liked the Android Marketplace branding myself. I just feel weird saying I found it in the Google Play store.

I certainly hope that the announcement is either the Google Now API release, or allowing Nexus branding to all manufacturers with the stipulation that it must use stock Android. Keep in mind that using stock Android does not prevent the manufacturer from loading their own bloatware or UI tweaks. Just that they can't lock those things into the operating system like the currently do.

If there are multiple Nexus phones, I hope there's some variety to them instead of them all being the same 4.6"+ monsters that high-end Android phones seem to be becoming. The iPhone shows that there is plenty demand for phones that can actually be used with one hand. I love my 720p 4.3" Rezound. Come on, OEMs, I want to give you my money.

You know what would be really cool is if they announced a networked speaker that plays content from the Play Store, preferably with an expensive amp and high-end-only connectors.

(On a serious note, am I the only one who wishes that some form of the Q was actually released?)

Pretty sure Google has said that they're reworking it and plan to rerelease it. And anyone who has a standing preorder for a Nexus Q will get the final Nexus Q product for what they paid, regardless if the cost has gone up.

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Yes please!

No kidding, hopefully if this carrot isn't enough, Google can find a stick big enough to beat these jack asses with. Software fracturing is probably the weakest link of Android devices, they /really/ need to get this issue resolved. Although I have to say, I have little faith at the moment. These manufacturers just don't seem to give a damn.

Will the Nexus line overcome carrier modifications, though? That's just as annoying to me - ever since iOS locked out the carriers, it seems like they feel the need to add the crap that used to come on their dumbphones into Android.

You know what would be really cool is if they announced a networked speaker that plays content from the Play Store, preferably with an expensive amp and high-end-only connectors.

(On a serious note, am I the only one who wishes that some form of the Q was actually released?)

I do like my Q, actually. It's pretty neat. Wish they made it so that you can stream anything, and not just certain Q enabled apps, though. Also, the ability to chose whether to go HDMI or analog audio out would be cool too.

It's also possible that we'll get some official details on Android 4.2, the as-yet-unnamed follow-up to Jelly Bean.

No one knows whether the next version will be 4.2 or 5.0. It is pretty dang certain that it will be called Key Lime Pie though.

Pardon my niggling. I just think it is funny that this happens with almost every version of Android, all the journalists start referring to it by a certain version number. That version number inevitably proves to be wrong. It is quite likely that this next one will be 5.0, as Android has released 3/4 major versions at the end of the year alongside a Nexus device. The only exception, Honeycomb, was targeted for an EOTY release but suffered delays.

I'm hoping they are rolling out the whole next iteration of the Nexus device set - not just the LG phone, but also including the rumored $99 tablet, the larger-screen tablet, etc. That could be part and parcel of announcing the broader open-access Nexus program ... but would make it much less abstract.

In fact, I'm really hoping the new generation of tablets are in play (no pun) for the holiday buying binge ...

If there are multiple Nexus phones, I hope there's some variety to them instead of them all being the same 4.6"+ monsters that high-end Android phones seem to be becoming. The iPhone shows that there is plenty demand for phones that can actually be used with one hand. I love my 720p 4.3" Rezound. Come on, OEMs, I want to give you my money.

I was thinking this myself. Hopefully they have reasonable selection. I'm hoping for at least a not horribly old speced 4" or less. Which seems to be the new trend. All small phones must have two year old internals! Or maybe something with a keyboard.

Rumor has it that Google may be giving many hardware partners the opportunity to use the Nexus branding as long as the phones stick to stock Android and offer the Nexus lineup's trademark timely updates.

Yes please!

So, the question is what is it about the Nexus brand makes it incentive enough for carriers and manufacturers to play along? Mindshare?And if it is, why aren't the carriers/manufacturers doing this already, since the main appeal for the Nexus line (imo) IS just that: stock Android and guaranteed updates.

Midshare? Possibly, but doubtful.

Brand association? More likely in my opinion. "Buy the new Google Nexus phone from <carrier name>". Google is held in higher regard than all the major carriers. From a carrier perspective, why not take advantage of that.

Updates? Yes. Definitely. This allows the carriers to transfer responsibility for updates to Google. Carriers can charge the same price for a Nexus phone but don't have to invest any of *their* time in packaging updates for it.

I really hope that the carriers are embracing the idea of acting as dumb pipes for a certain segment of the mobile phone market. There should be enough market segmentation to support consumers that want a carrier-branded phone or a carrier-neutral phone.

So, the question is what is it about the Nexus brand makes it incentive enough for carriers and manufacturers to play along? Mindshare?And if it is, why aren't the carriers/manufacturers doing this already, since the main appeal for the Nexus line (imo) IS just that: stock Android and guaranteed updates.

My guess is that a segment of consumers will buy Nexus phones for the same reason they buy any certified product (guaranteed quality and updates, at least in theory), and manufacturers will provide them because the certification will generate sales.

As for why manufacturers don't do this themselves, I'm not really sure, but I can speculate. Few manufacturers want to sell low margin commodity phones if they can help it; uniqueness can demand a premium. But outside of flagship phones, manufacturers catering to the average smartphone buyer prefer to differentiate phones with software rather than hardware because it's a cheaper way to get a little pricing power (and in some cases they can subsidize the handset with certain preloaded software.) As for updates, it's hard for manufacturers to commit to major updates without knowing specific hardware support targets and potential difficulties therein for future versions of Android. Also, there's a bit of an implicit and sometimes explicit credibility problem that a relationship with Google should be able to solve.

Random opinionizing: Is anyone else bothered by the whole Play moniker? I understand that "x App Store" is kind of bland, but it got the point across, and actually I kind of liked Android Market, which had a connotation of a bustling marketplace and idea exchange. "Play" just seems childish and to a slightly lesser extent, called to mind the play button on various devices, which I find even more bland than calling it an app store. With playground, they seem to be reinforcing that idea.

Not that I think everything has to be OMG SERIOUS BUSINESS. But I'm curious if people like the name.

If there are multiple Nexus phones, I hope there's some variety to them instead of them all being the same 4.6"+ monsters that high-end Android phones seem to be becoming. The iPhone shows that there is plenty demand for phones that can actually be used with one hand. I love my 720p 4.3" Rezound. Come on, OEMs, I want to give you my money.

This is a good observation. I find it interesting, however, that you cite a phone that there's really only one current model of as your example. More to the point, the iPhone shows that people will buy a quality product no matter what the limitations in size are.

Can't really imagine that Google will launch Android 4.2 Key Lime Pie just yet. I would be pissed because I don't even have Jelly Bean on my Galaxy SIII yet. I know the operating-system organization is very mixed in the Google ecosystem, but the Galaxy SIII is a new device.

My friend wrote a rumor roundup on the event and compromised all the thoughts in a video if anyone is interested.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.